Australian Paralympic skier Melissa Perrine was disqualified from a medal-winning position in Sochi because no one on the team knew the rules, the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) says.

Perrine, who is legally blind, wore an illegal makeshift visor attached to her helmet with duct tape during her slalom run in the women's vision impaired super-combined on Tuesday.

Her guide Andrew Bor had unwittingly fastened it there to stop the light from shining in her eyes as she raced.

Perrine had finished the run in second position, a result which set the 26-year-old up with a strong chance to medal as she entered the Super-G element of the event.

But nearly two hours later she was disqualified by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) race jury, who found she had breached rules that state competitors aren't allowed to race with anything attached to their helmet or goggles.

It rounds off a disappointing opening to the Paralympics for Australia, with the squad failing to win a medal so far despite having several chances.

APC chief executive Jason Hellwig criticised members of the team for being ignorant of the regulations at such a major international event.

"What we've got here is a number of people in that critical spot at the top of the hill before the athlete goes in to compete," Hellwig said.

"They simply were not on top of their knowledge of the rules, and that's just an inexcusable and dumb mistake."

Hellwig said he was comfortable no one had tried to seek an unfair advantage.

Head coach Steve Graham said Perrine and Bor had tested the visor out at a recent World Cup meet and encountered no issues.

But he said he was not aware the pair had decided to wear it again until after they crossed the finish line.

"I was fairly sure of the rule so when they discussed it about a month ago I said, `make sure you know what the rule is'," Graham said.

"I don't think they looked into it. Obviously they didn't because if they would have a bit more thoroughly, then well, they would have known."

Australia's chef de mission Chris Nunn met individually with Graham, assistant coach Michael Milton, Perrine and Bor on Tuesday evening to hear their version of events.

Nunn said it appeared the legitimacy of the visor had been brought up twice before the incident.

"But there was a lack of attention to detail and to seek clarification," he said.

"When you get to this level you live and die by the rulebook. We breached those rules and we were found wanting."

Perrine did not use the visor in her first two events in Sochi - downhill and Super-G.

She'll race the stand-alone slalom on Thursday and the giant slalom on Sunday.